Life-saving suit.



G. W. MAGNUS & J. OBANION.

LIFE SAVING SUIT.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 18. 1916.

Patented Jan. 30, 1917.

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GUSTAF W. MAGNUS AND JAY OBANION, 6F SEATTLE, "WASHINGTON.

LIFE-SAVING SUIT.

Application filed March 18, 1916.

[0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GUs'rAF W. MAGNUS, and JAY OBANIOU, citizens of the United States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Life-Saving Suits, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to imyn'ovements in life-saving garments of the buoyant and waterproof type, and the object of this improvement is to provide a reliable and simple one-piece garn'ient of a strong and durable form of construction that may be easily and quickly put on and that will not be easily affected or deteriorated by the action of salt water.

A further object of the invention is to combine a buoyant belt with the garment in such manner that the upper or coat portion of the garment may be belted snugly around the chest of the user, the buoyant belt being so constructed and disposed that it will not hamper the movement of the arms and will support the wearer with his head well above the water. I

Still further objects of the invention are to provide gloves and a neck-piece of soft flexible material, and to provide automatic tightening devices for the draw-string of the neck-piece whereby the knotting of such draw-string will be obviated and the garment quickly put on.

The invention consists in the novel construction of a life-saving garment and the adaptation and combination of the various parts of such garment, as will be more clearly described in the following specification, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and finally pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a garment embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the same as it may appear when placed on a person; Fig. 3 is a view in cross-section of the garment on broken line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4: is a detached view in perspective of the shoe portion of the garment, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view illustrating automatic holding devices for the drawstring of the neck band.

Referring to the drawings, throughout which like reference numerals indicate like parts, the numeral 6 indicates the coat portion of a garment that is provided with sleeves 7 and legs 8 of the usual form, and

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 34 1917.

Serial No. 85,005.

11, see Fig. 5, having spring-pressed pawls 12 that normally engage the strings and clamp them against a plate The sleeves 7 termlnate 1n gloves 14; of the same water-proof flexible material as the neck-piece 9. The legs 8 terminate in shoes 15 that are preferably made by forming integral foot portions on the bottoms of the legs, fastening a sole 16 to the foot portion and providing buckles 17 whereby the ankle portions may be folded over, as shown in Fig. 4, and buckled around the ankles of the wearer to keep the feet down in the shoes.

The buoyant portion of the garment consists in a belt 18 of relatively heavy material that is preferably sewed to the waist of the garment, as shown in Figs. 1 to 3, and is provided with a plurality of pockets 20 within which are disposed air-tight shells 21, preferably formed of light metal as aluminum, and having suflicient displacement to support a person with his head well above the water.

The front of the belt 18 consists in two loose flaps 18 that are provided with suitable clips 22 and buttons 23 by which they may be fastened together at will, no shells 21 being provided on the sides of the belt in order that the arms of the wearer be left free and unhampered.

A hood or head-piece 24: is secured to the top of the body portion 6 at the rear side thereof, and is adapted to cover the head, as shown in Fig. 2, the front portion thereof being permitted to hang down in front of the body portion 6 and being provided with a transparent plate 25 of isinglass or other suitable material that enables the wearer to see out.

The garment is large and roomy at the top so that it may be easily and quickly gotten into by the wearer. After the wearer has gotten into the garment, the neck piece 9 is drawn snugly around the neck by pulling in opposite directions on the drawstrings 10, the buckles 17 are buckled to keep the shoe portions from slipping ofl, and the belt 18 is fastened around the chest and the head-piece placed over the head, as shown in Fig. 2.

It will be noted that when the belt 18 is fastened, the coat part of the garment which is necessarily large to permit the garment to be easily put on, is gathered snugly around the body and lies in folds 26 under the belt, see Fig. 3, thus preventing the garment from being bulky and cumbersome,

as it would be if the buoyant shells were.

secured directly to the garment instead of to a belt having separate fastening devices.

The method of waterproofing is as follows: The material of which the garment is to be made is first thoroughly saturated With the waterproofing composition described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,079,782. The garment is then made by stitching it in the manner indicated on the drawings, the soles and buckles are put on the shoe portions, and the stitched and overlapped edge portions are again gone over with the waterproofing compound to insure that there will be no leakage.

The flexible collar and gloves are an important feature of the device, the collar being adapted to be drawn very closely about the neck and the gloves permitting a free use of the fingers in buckling the shoes and fastening and unfastening the belt 18 and collar portion 9.

The neck portion 9 may be loosened by grasping the clasps 11 on each side thereof,

pressing the protruding ends of the pawls 12 with the thumb and finger, and pulling outwardly on the clasps.

This garment is especially intended for use as a life suit on shipboard, and is so constructed that a person can remain for a long period of time in the water Without getting wet or suffering severely.

What We claim, is

1. A. garment of the class described, comprising a waterproof body portion, shoes formed integral therewith, a buoyant belt secured thereto, gloves of flexible material, a hood, a neck-piece of flexible material, a draw-string in said neck-piece, and clasps for said draw string, said clasps having spring-pressed cams that normally permit movement of said draw-string in one direc tion, and prevent movement of said drawstring in an opposite direction.

2. A garment of the class described, comprising a waterproof body portion of heavy material having a large open top end to provide easy access thereinto, shoes formed integral with said body portion, a hood of light flexible material, gloves of light flexible ma terial, a neck-piece of light flexible material,

a draw-string in said neck-piece, clasps for holding said drawstring against a force tending to open said neck-piece, said clasps being adapted to yield to force tending to close said neck-piece, and a belt secured to said garment and having air compartments provided therein, said belt being adapted to fasten around the large upper portion of said garment to confine said large upper portion snugly about the body of the wearer. Signed at Seattle, Washington, this 18th day of Feb, 1916.

GUSTAF W. MAGNUS. JAY OBANION. WVitnesses:

E. PETERSON, PIERRE BARNES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for me cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

